"Kushinagar" by Shantum Seth

Kushinagar is the place that the Buddha chose for his
Mahaparinirvana, or final exit from earth. Kushinagar, or Kushinara as it was
then known, was the capital of the Malla republic, one of the republican states
of northern India
during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Kushinagar is identified close to the
modern village of Kasia, 30 miles east of the city of Gorakhpur, in the Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh.

During his lifetime
the Master traversed the fertile plains of the Ganges
valley, subsisting on whatever he collected as alms, and pausing to rest only
during the rainy season. In 483 BC on the full moon night of Magh
(January-February), the Master lectured to the Sangha at the village, Beluva,
near Vaishali, on the impermanence of all living things, and said that his own
life on earth was soon to end.

According to the Maha Parinirvana sutra, from Vaishali the Buddha
visited a number of centres and villages such as Ambagama, Jambugama and Bhoganagara
and then went on to Pava, where a humble metal-smith, Chunda, invited the
Sangha for a meal. Having tasted the special dish of ‘sukhara mandava’, the
Master immediately realized that there was something wrong with it and asked
Chunda to bury the rest so that others would not be harmed by it. Chunda was
overcome with grief and guilt when he realized that his offering was the cause
of the Master’s fatal illness. The Buddha knowing this, mentioned to his
attendant Ananda to tell the metal-smith that the one who donates the Buddha’s
last meal acquires great merit, equivalent to the one who offered him food
before his nirvana.

As the Buddha lay
between twin Saal (Shorea robusta) trees, near the banks of the Hiranyavati
river in Kushinagar, comfortable with his impending death, the Master asked the
Sangha, whether anyone had any queries and there was silence, meaning his
teachings were well understood. The Buddha then uttered his last words,

All conditioned reality is of the nature to decay--strive on
diligently.

Many people from all walks of life, from far and near,
flocked to pay obeisance to the earthly remains of the Buddha for the next six
days. On the seventh day his body was decked with garlands and taken in a
procession, to the accompaniment of the music. The senior most monk at the time,
Mahakashyapa, lit the funeral pyre at the Mukutabandha cremation ground in
Kushinagar. Today not much remains of this, except a large brick stupa mound
rising to a height of almost 15 meters set within a well kept park.

Barely had the pyre cooled, that envoys from different
kingdoms, came to claim the holy relics. A compromise was found by a local
Brahmin, and the sacred relics were divided into eight parts and encased in eight
stupas in different locations.

In 7th Century AD, the Chinese traveler Xuan Zang lamented
on the desolation of this sacred site. However he mentions the Mahaparinirvana
Stupa. Thereafter Kushinagar sank into near oblivion, almost forgotten by the
world until early in the last century.

The Mahaprinirvana
Temple enshrines a 18
feet long statue of the Buddha in the reclining posture. Carved from a single
block of red sandstone, the statue now looks metallic gold because of the
application of the gold leaves by the pilgrims.

The best time to visit this temple is in the early hours of
the evening, when the mellow light from the candles and the chanting of mantras
render a sacred aura to the temple.

About 350 yards from
the Mahaparinirvana
Temple is the small
Mathakuar shrine, built on the spot where the image of the Buddha in the earth
touching pose has been enshrined.

There are several new monasteries and temples. The Sri
Lanka-Japan-India monastery has an Ashta Dhatu (eight metals) statue of the
Buddha flanked by Japanese-style portraits of his ten principal monks. The new
Thai monastery is impressive and the oldest monastery in Kushinagar is the large
Burmese Dharamsala which is next to the ChineseTemple with its marble images of the
Buddha and the Kuan Yin from Vietnam.
Next to the meditation centre of the Sri Lanka-Japan-India monastery is the
Kushinagar museum.

Adapted
by Shantum Seth from the book Walking
with the Buddha, co-authored by Shantum, who has lead acclaimed
pilgrimages to traditional Buddhist sites--'In the Footsteps of the Buddha'--since 1988. Visit www.buddhapath.com to learn
more.